Hydrology of inshore waters

Abstract

Data collected by the earlier cruises of Dana Expedi tion, RV Vityaz, International Indian Ocean Expedition, INS Krishna and others on various hydrological para meters pertained to the deeper waters off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Further, the observations were mostly restricted to pre-monsoon season. Literature on hydrology of the coastal waters of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is very meagre. Sewell (1928, 1929) observed the pattern of temperature and salinity of the coastal waters of the Andaman Sea. Rangarajan and Marichamy (1972), based on their study during 1964-70 at Port Blair, correlated the seasonal changes of the marine environment with local meteorological condi tions. Garg et al. (1968) reported that the concentra tion of oxygen-poor layer was greater in the Andaman Sea than in the Bay of Bengal suggesting a northerly flow at these depths. Kabanova (1964), during the 33rd cruise of Vityaz, concluded that the low values of primary production were due to the deficiency of nutrient salts.